[bagster]

He needs to use clean slides, and/or a different method for transferring the fluid from the vials. Those are contaminants, but not from the vials.

Because everybody knows those dirty Spanish scientists haven't discovered clean slides yet.

We're lucky to have you, Professor. And even more lucky that you looked at the vax in your lab.

[neverevergiveup]

He/they likely used wet mounts to view the liquids from the vials. It's very easy to get things like fiber contaminants introduced in that context - even with new slides and coverslips. It's also possible to have contaminants on the microscope lens etc., and be fooled.

Decades ago, during the initial investigation into the causative agent of toxic shock syndrome (associated with tampon use) a researcher announced he had found the causative organism and that it was a spirochete (a filamentous shaped bacterium - like Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme, and Treponema pallidum - the spirochete that causes syphilis). Turns out it was a thread.

[atc23]

Haha - I was laughing so hard reading that -Yep, Scientists in Spain just reuse slides they pull out of the trash. Maybe they go out to the barn and root around In the horse manure for lab equipment too -or buy it new at Dollar General

[Jane Long]

Funny that in the vid transcript, they call out the *trolls* who would be saying these are contaminated slides.

As other posters have asked....what are these contaminants, then?

Can’t just get away with a ‘drive by’ smear, without any back up.